Han Ming nodded his head as if it weren't for Shen Yuan's help they would both have died in the claws of this beast.
Han Ming sprinted towards the panther and swung his saber in a big arc to attack the center of the panther's head. The panther swiped its claws on the incoming saber and reflected it to the side.
Just as the beast tried to jump forward to bite the head of Han Ming, Li Yu jumped from the back and swiped her short sword on the stomach of the panther, making it bleed a little but not fatal enough.
Shen Yuan didn't budge an inch as he knew it wasn't yet time to attack, he was still waiting for that slight chance to kill the panther in one strike.
Han Ming pushed himself further as he continued hacking at the panther, which continued to parry the attacks as it swiped its claws left and right.
He was exerting himself fully to keep the beast occupied, he fought for another 100 rounds and finally managed to strike the panther's back.
Li Yu also took this opportunity to strike the panther's right eye, making it blind from one side.
Shen Yuan unsheathed his sword and struck at the neck of the panther, cleanly slicing it off.
"Huuf, huuf…" Han Ming took deep breaths as he finally had a chance to rest. He dropped to the ground from exhaustion as he spoke, "If you hadn't attacked the beast just now then I might very well have died from exhaustion, Brother Yang. You really took your sweet time to take that strike." At the end of his words, his voice held a slightly accusing tone.
Shen Yuan shrugged and replied, "I struck when I was completely sure that I could finish it off in one strike, that's why I took so long so the beast could forget about me and I could have a chance to kill it in one strike."
Li Yu's eyes glowed with admiration as she spoke, "Wow, I didn't know Brother Yang was so thoughtful and even strong." The word admiration was practically written on her face.
Shen Yuan also felt good to be praised by a beauty as he replied, "Haha you don't have to worry, as long as you guys are following me I can take care of you." He patted his chest, as he promised to take care of them in the heat of the movement.
Han Ming stood up and coupled his fists together, "Thanks for your help just now Brother Yang, this Han won't forget this favor. For now, I will follow Brother Yang to learn about the ways of the world."
Shen Yuan nodded his head while smiling slightly, "By the way, are you guys from the same sect or what? How did you even meet?"
Han Ming scratched his cheeks as he replied, "Well I met her when she was surrounded by some spirit beasts and I helped her out, since then we have been traveling together to look out for each other."
Shen Yuan looked towards Li Yu for confirmation, "Yes, what Brother Han Ming said is correct, I was fighting against a pack of the One Horned Wolves which ambushed me. So I really have to thank him for saving my life."
Shen Yuan didn't ask further as he changed the topic and asked, "So, what are you guys going to do now?"
Han Ming pointed towards the beast's corpse, "We will extract the useful part of this beast for Sect points, and its core as well for alchemy, Of course, we will split it evenly."
Shen Yuan's eyes twitched, 'Wait wait, these corpses are valuable? And what is this core about? Why didn't Mom or Sisters mention it? It was not eve- wait I didn't even read books about beasts because they looked ugly. Sigh, I need to read them up after this training session.'
Shen Yuan's face remained unperturbed outside as he didn't even as much as blink his eyes, he looked cool as he said, "You guys can split it among yourself, I'm not in need of this low-grade stuff."
Han Ming and Li Yu looked at him in confusion as Han Ming suspiciously asked, "Weren't you a vagrant cultivation, Brother Yang?"
Shen Yuan nearly cursed inside his mind as he had to now pay the price to pretend in front of a beauty. He quickly thought of an excuse as he replied, "Yes I need resources but you both were already fighting this beast before I got here, and I only struck once so it doesn't feel right to take an equal amount."
Shen Yuan felt good inside to come up with such a good excuse in such a situation. Han Ming and Li Yu's eyes softened as they now looked at Shen Yuan in a new light, not expecting him to be so magnanimous.
Li Yu put together her hand and said, "I can't believe you are such an awesome guy Brother Yang, but we can't take advantage of your kindness, just let us divide the beast into equal parts for the three of us."
Han Ming also nodded, "What she said is true Brother Yuan, we can't let you take this loss, and if it weren't for you, we both might have died already."
Shen Yuan didn't expect his excuse to work wonders, he didn't reject it this time or else it might seem suspicious, "Alright, if you guys insist."
They cut up the beast's corpse equally and Shen Yuan ended up with the most precious part of the Beast's body, its inner core which formed inside the Foundation Establishment realm and above the beasts.
Shen Yuan didn't ask further and just put it away in his spatial ring. Han Ming and Li Yu also had spirit rings but their spirit rings were of really low quality, they didn't even have 15 cubic meters of space inside.
Shen Yuan and others went to look for more opportunities to get stronger, after all, there were not only Criminals and Spirit Beast but spirit herbs and treasures of heaven and earth as well.